Willmar City Council to choose second-round finalists for city administrator on Thursday
May 6—WILLMAR — The Willmar City Council decided to give itself a couple days to think over all they heard during the remote interviews with the four city administrator candidates on Tuesday, before deciding which of those candidates the councilors would like to meet in person.
That important decision will be made during a special remote City Council meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday.
On Tuesday, using the remote meeting program GoTo Meeting, the City Council interviewed Tyler Brooks, Guy Scaife, Dana L. Schoening and Robert J. Wolfington Jr.
Brooks is currently an officer in the United States Air Force in South Daytona, Florida, working as an operations commander. Scaife has a long resume of working in telecommunications and city administration, most recently AS city manager of Thetford, Vermont. He currently lives in Bettendorf Iowa. Dana L. Schoening has experience in city planning and development, currently holding the position of director of planning and operations of Sweetwater, Texas. Wolfington is the current city manager of Benson.
Each interview began with the Mayor Marv Calvin speaking briefly about Willmar and then each councilor introduced themselves. Patty Heminover, director from Baker Tilly which led the national search for candidates, worked as the moderator during the interviews, asking most of the questions while the council listened in.
The questions touched on a variety of issues including management style, plans for the future, how each candidate would work with the council and how the candidate deals with challenges. At the end of each interview, the council had the opportunity to ask follow-up questions.
Willmar is searching for its next administrator due to the upcoming retirement of current administrator Brian Gramentz., who will be leaving the city in early June.
